JP2002212722A - Method and apparatus for forming solid lubrication film on rolling body surface - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method and an apparatus for forming a solid lubricating film which is clean and homogeneous, does not require man-hours for sputtering and exhibits good productivity. SOLUTION: A target which consists of a solid lubricant and a rotary table which faces the target with an interval are provided in a vacuum chamber. A rotating component 41 is connected with the rotary table, and a fixing component 42 is disposed directly under the rotating component 41. A plurality of rolling body-accommodating holes 44 each of which is provided with a hole having a space where a plurality of rollers can be placed in a single column are formed in the radial direction of the rotating component 41. A plurality of rollers 6 are housed in the space between the holes 44 and the fixing component 42 serving as a receiving part, and balls 61 are inserted between the end surfaces of these rollers 6.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for forming a solid lubricating film on a rolling element of a rolling bearing applied to semiconductor manufacturing equipment or space equipment used in a special environment such as clean or vacuum. About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a method of forming a solid lubricating film which sputters a solid lubricant of a molybdenum disulfide film on a rolling element such as a ball or a roller applied to a rolling bearing, for example,
There is one disclosed in JP-A-5-9707. FIG. 4A is a side sectional view of a sputtering apparatus showing a conventional example, and FIG. 4B is a plan view along the line BB '. A target 2 made of molybdenum disulfide is provided in the upper part of the vacuum chamber 1, and a rotary table 3 is provided on a base 7 below the vacuum chamber 1, and the rotary table 3 is driven by a driving device (not shown) via a rotary shaft 31. It is to rotate. The jig 4 is fixed on the turntable 3 and the jig 4
The roller 6 is placed in a hole 4a provided at a position facing the target 2 above. A shutter 5 is provided between the target 2 and the roller 6 to adjust a sputtering time. Jig 4
Has a hole 4a having a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the roller 6.
Are provided, and the roller 6 is inserted into the hole 4a, and in a state where half or more of the height of the roller 6 is exposed from the jig 4, the inside of the vacuum chamber 1 is evacuated to perform sputtering. After that, the vacuum chamber 1 is opened to the atmosphere, and the portion where the sputter film is not formed because it is hidden by the jig 4 is inverted so as to be exposed outside the jig 4, and sputtering is performed again. The above description is of the sputtering method in the case where the rolling element is the roller 6, but the ball is also sputtered by the same method.

[0003]

However, in the method having the above structure, the half surface of the roller 6 is sputtered so as to be opposed to the target 2, and then the air is once released to the atmosphere, and the roller 6 is turned over. Since the remaining half surface of No. 6 is sputtered, there are the following problems. (1) A double mating surface is formed on a part of the roller by two sputters. (2) Clean sputtered films cannot be obtained because the rollers are contaminated by dust, oxidation, moisture absorption, etc. due to handling when the rollers are reversed and contact with the atmosphere. (3) Since two sputtering processes are required, it takes time and effort to invert and vacuum the rollers, and the productivity is poor. A similar problem occurs when a ball is sputtered instead of the roller 6. Therefore, the object of the present invention is to make these (1)
To solve the problems of (3) above, a clean and uniform lubricating film can be obtained, and the sputtering does not require much trouble or time.
An object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for forming a solid lubricating film having good productivity.

[0004]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention of a method for forming a solid lubricant film according to the first aspect of the present invention is to provide a method in which a solid lubricant is provided in a vacuum chamber with a space between the targets. An opposing rotary table is provided, a jig is installed on the rotary table, a plurality of rolling elements are stored at positions on the jig opposite to the target, and sputters are applied to the rolling elements while rotating the rotary table. In the method for forming a solid lubricating film, the jig is composed of a component A which is connected to the rotary table and rotates and a component B which does not rotate, and a plurality of rolling elements arranged on the component B are provided on the rotary table. It is characterized in that a film is formed on the surface of the rolling element while revolving and rotating by the action of the component A with the rotation. The invention described in claim 2 is claim 1
Wherein the component A which is connected to the rotary table and rotates is constituted by a rolling element housing hole formed with a plurality of through holes. According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect, the component A which is connected to the rotary table and rotates has a hole having a shape of a space in which a plurality of the rolling elements can enter in a row in a radial direction. A plurality of moving body housing holes are provided, and a film is formed on the surface of the rolling body. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect, when the rolling element is a roller, balls are inserted into both end faces of the roller into the rolling element housing holes of the component A which is connected to the rotary table and rotates. A film is formed on the rolling element surface. The solid-lubricating film forming apparatus according to claim 5 includes a target made of a solid lubricant provided in a vacuum chamber, a rotary table facing the target at an interval, and a rotary table on the rotary table. A jig that can be installed at a position facing the target to accommodate the rolling elements, and a plurality of rolling elements are stored in the rolling element storage holes, and sputters are applied to the rolling elements while rotating the rotary table. In the solid lubricating film forming apparatus to be performed, the jig has a rolling element housing hole for housing a rolling element at a position facing the target, a rotating component connected to the rotating table and rotating, and And a non-rotating non-rotating component disposed at a position immediately below and supporting the rolling element housed in the rolling element housing hole. And forming a film on the surface of the rolling element while performing the revolution and rotation on the rolling elements by interaction between the rolling parts. The invention according to claim 6 is the invention according to claim 5
In the solid lubricant film forming apparatus described above, a plurality of the rolling element housing holes are provided. According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the solid lubricant film forming apparatus according to the fifth or sixth aspect, the rolling element housing hole is a space for housing the plurality of rolling elements in a row in a radial direction of the rotating component. It is characterized by. According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the solid lubricating film forming apparatus according to the seventh aspect, when the rolling element is a plurality of rollers, the rolling element accommodating hole of the rotating component is provided in the rolling element housing hole. The method according to claim 1, wherein a ball is inserted between the end faces of the stored rollers.

[0005]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 (a) is a side sectional view of a sputtering apparatus, and FIG. 1 (b) is a plan view of a jig 4 of FIG. 1 (a). The same components as those in the conventional example are denoted by the same reference numerals. In FIG. 1, a target 2 made of mobilized molybdenum is provided in an upper part of a vacuum chamber 1, and a rotary table 3 is provided in a lower part.
The ball 61 is located at the radial position of the jig 4 facing the target 2.
Is stored, and the shutter 5 and the cover 8 are provided between the target 2 and the ball 61. The difference from the conventional example is the configuration of the jig 4. The jig 4 provided on the turntable 3 includes a first plate 41 having a rolling element housing hole 43 formed of a plurality of through holes for housing the balls 61 at a position facing the turntable 3.
The rotary table 3 and the rotary table 3 are coaxially connected to each other. The second plate 42 is independently provided between the first plate 41 and the rotary table 3. Fixed bar in vacuum chamber 1 (not shown)
It is fixed by 42a. In such a configuration,
When sputtering is performed by drawing a vacuum in the vacuum chamber 1,
The first plate 41 on the jig 4 rotates in response to the rotation of the turntable 3.
, And rolls in the rolling element housing hole 43, and the surface of the ball 61 sputtered from the target 2 changes sequentially with time, so that the entire surface of the ball 61 is sputtered. In the sputtering process, the ball 61 is placed in the vacuum chamber 1.
There is no need to open the air and turn it over, and there is no risk of contamination due to dust, oxidation, moisture absorption, etc. due to handling of the ball 61 or contact with the air. In addition, there is no need to perform long-term evacuation by opening to the atmosphere, and furthermore, the sputtering process can be performed collectively without taking time and effort to invert the balls 61, thereby improving productivity. Further, a cover 8 that covers the ball 61 and the rotary table 3 may be fixed to the base 7 between the shutter 5 and the ball 61. Immediately below the target 2 of the cover 8, a through hole 81 having a diameter substantially equal to the outer diameter of the target 2 is provided. The characteristics of the particles from the target 2 adhering to the ball 61 are as follows.
Affected by the distance between With such a configuration, when the ball 61 is not located immediately below the target 2, the sputtered particles are prevented from adhering by the cover 8, so that a more uniform film quality can be obtained.

FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment of the present invention, and relates to another shape of the rolling element housing hole of the jig 4 of FIG. FIG. 2A is an exploded perspective view of the jig 4 according to the second embodiment, and FIG. 2B is an assembled perspective view of FIG. 2A. In FIG. 2, the jig 4 has the second plate 42 as the lower surface, the first plate 41 facing the second plate 42, and the rolling element housing holes 44 of the first plate 41 A plurality of balls 61 are arranged in a radial direction of the rolling element housing hole 44 as a space in which the balls 61 which are a plurality of rolling elements per row are accommodated. In such a configuration, the first plate 41 on the jig 4 rotates in response to the rotation of the turntable 3, so that the balls 61 are pushed by the first plate 41 and are moved in the rolling element housing holes 44. Since all the balls 61 are uniformly rolled in a line, and the surface of the ball 61 sputtered from the target 2 changes sequentially with time, the entire surface of the ball 61 is sputtered. Also, as in the case of the first embodiment,
There is no waste and productivity is improved. The above description is for the case where the rolling element is a ball.

In the second embodiment, when the rolling elements are rollers and a plurality of rollers are inserted in the radial direction and spattering is performed, between the roller end face and the adjacent roller end face, and between the wall surface of the rolling element housing hole 44 and the roller. Since the end faces may come into contact with each other, the problem remains only in this case. The third embodiment solves this problem. FIG. 3 shows a third embodiment of the present invention, and relates to a method of using the jig 4 of FIG. FIG. 3A is an enlarged plan view of a rolling element housing hole 43 when used according to the third embodiment. FIG. 3B is a side sectional view taken along line AA ′ of FIG. FIG. 3A shows the arrangement of the rolling elements 6 in the rolling element housing holes 44 when the rolling elements 6 of FIG. 2 are rollers, and FIG. 3B shows the roller of FIG. 3A. 6 shows the movement of FIG. Since the rolling element housing hole 43 of the first plate 41 has a space in which a plurality of rollers 6 can be inserted in a single row in the radial direction, the rollers 6
1 is kept substantially perpendicular to the rotation direction. When a plurality of rollers 6 are inserted in the radial direction to perform sputtering, the third
According to the embodiment, the ball 61 is inserted between the end face of the roller 6 and the end face of the adjacent roller 6, and between the inner walls 44a and 44b of the rolling element housing hole 44 and the end face of the roller 6. By doing so, it is possible to prevent contact between the roller 6 end face adjacent to the roller 6 end face, the rolling element housing hole 44, and the roller 6 end face, so that uniform sputtering can be performed. Further, as in the case of the first and second embodiments, there is no adhesion of dust and the productivity is improved.

[0008] When the experiments of the first to third embodiments were carried out, in any of the embodiments, the rolling elements rolled in the rolling element housing holes and were sputtered from the target. Changes sequentially with time, so that the entire surface of the rolling element was sputtered uniformly, and a uniform molybdenum disulfide film was obtained in each case. Good results were also obtained in the life test. No dust adhered to the rolling elements because the vacuum chamber was not opened to the atmosphere. Further, since a long-time evacuation and a reversing operation of the rolling elements by releasing to the atmosphere are not required, the sputtering process can be performed at a time, and the productivity is greatly improved.

[0009]

As described above, according to the present invention, in contrast to the conventional method of forming a solid lubricating film on the rolling element 6 which required opening to the atmosphere and reversing operation, according to the present invention, the rolling element 6 (roller or ball) Is performed while rolling, so that one continuous sputtering process can be performed without opening the vacuum chamber 1 to the atmosphere. Further, since the rolling elements 6 (rollers and balls) are not handled during inversion and do not come into contact with the atmosphere, they are not contaminated by dust, oxidation, moisture absorption, etc. Since the sputtered film does not have a double mating surface, a uniform and clean lubricating film is obtained over the entire surface of the rolling elements 6 (rollers and balls), and the film characteristics are improved. Also, no time or effort is required for the sputtering process.
There is an effect that the productivity of the sputtered film is improved. Therefore, the sputtering process is simplified, and a highly reliable method and apparatus for forming a solid lubricating film can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1A is a side sectional view of a sputtering apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a plan view of a jig 4 of FIG.

2A is an exploded perspective view of the jig 4 of FIG. 1, and FIG. 2B is an assembled perspective view of FIG.

FIG. 3A is an enlarged plan view of a rolling element housing hole 43;
(B) is a side sectional view along line AA 'of (a).

FIG. 4A is a side sectional view of a sputtering apparatus showing a conventional example, and FIG. 4B is a plan view taken along line BB ′ of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: Vacuum chamber 2: Target 3: Rotary table 31: Shaft 4: Jig 4a: Hole 41: First plate 42: Second plate 42a: Fixed bar 43: Rolling element housing hole 44: Roll of another shape Moving body housing holes 44a, 44b: inner wall of rolling body housing hole 45: joint 5: shutter 6: roller (rolling body) 61: ball (rolling body) 7: base 8: cover 81: through hole

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Keisuke Mizoue 2-1, Kurosaki Shiroishi, Yawatanishi-ku, Kitakyushu-shi, Fukuoka F-term (reference) 4K029 AA02 AA22 BA51 BC00 BD04 CA05 JA03 JA08

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A target made of a solid lubricant and a rotary table facing the target at an interval are provided in a vacuum chamber, a jig is set on the rotary table, and the target on the jig is attached to the target. A solid lubricating film forming method in which a plurality of rolling elements are housed at opposing positions and sputtering is performed on the rolling elements while rotating the rotary table, wherein the jig is connected to the rotary table and rotates with a rotating component A. A plurality of rolling elements disposed on the component B, and forming a film on the rolling element surface while revolving and rotating by the action of the component A with the rotation of the rotary table. A method for forming a solid lubricating film. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the component A connected to the rotary table and rotating comprises a rolling element housing hole having a plurality of through holes. . 3. The rolling element housing hole according to claim 2, wherein the rolling element housing hole has a shape in which a plurality of the rolling elements are arranged in a row in a radial direction in a part A which is connected to the rotary table and rotates. And forming a film on the surface of the rolling element. 4. The component A according to claim 3, wherein the rolling element is a roller, the component being connected to the rotary table and rotating.
Forming a film on the surface of the rolling element by inserting balls at both end surfaces of the roller into the rolling element housing hole. 5. A target made of a solid lubricant provided in a vacuum chamber, a rotary table opposed to the target at an interval, and a position installed on the rotary table and facing the target. A jig capable of storing rolling elements, and a plurality of rolling elements are stored in the rolling element storage holes, and a solid lubricating film forming apparatus that sputters the rolling elements while rotating the rotary table, A rotating component connected to the rotary table and rotating, the jig having a rolling element storage hole for storing a rolling element at a position opposed to the target; And a non-rotating non-rotating component that supports the rolling element housed in the moving body housing hole, and the rotation of the rotating table causes the interaction between the rotating component and the non-rotating component. Solid lubricating film forming apparatus and forming a film on the surface of the rolling element while performing the revolution and rotation on the moving object. 6. The solid lubricating film forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein a plurality of said rolling element housing holes are provided. 7. The solid lubricating film forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the rolling element housing hole is a space for storing the plurality of rolling elements in a line in a radial direction of the rotating component. 8. The solid according to claim 7, wherein when the rolling elements are a plurality of rollers, a ball is inserted between the end faces of the rollers housed in the rolling element housing holes of the rotating component. How to use the lubrication film forming device.